Visa Interactive, the card association's remote banking unit, has named Christopher F. Schellhorn president and chief operating officer.
Mr. Schellhorn succeeds D. Fraser Bullock, who had headed the operation since Visa acquired it from U.S. Order two years ago. Mr. Bullock recently decided to step down and move to Utah for personal reasons, while staying affiliated with Visa International, the company said.
Mr. Schellhorn, 45, was vice president and general manager of International Verifact Inc. in Denver, which is part of a Canadian company that specializes in electronic payment systems for retail points of sale.
Wesley C. Tallman, chairman and chief executive of Visa Interactive, said Mr. Schellhorn is well suited to a high-tech organization that has "developed all the tools we need to be viable."
Beyond the start-up phase, "we need solid business and marketing management to maintain and improve the quality of the products," said Mr. Tallman, who is also Visa International's president of products and systems. "We have good, solid technicians, and he knows how to manage them."
Mr. Schellhorn was not available for an interview when his appointment was announced last week.
Mr. Tallman said he has known Mr. Schellhorn for years, and "he knows exactly what needs to be done without needing to be told to do it."
Both men once worked in Rochester, N.Y., for Chase Lincoln First Bank. Mr. Tallman also worked for Paychex Inc. in that city, and Mr. Schellhorn, for the transaction services unit of the Wegman's supermarket chain. Mr. Schellhorn has also been chief executive officer of a consulting firm, Business Modeling Techniques Inc.
Mr. Tallman said Visa Interactive's transition would be "seamless" because Mr. Schellhorn can call on Mr. Bullock and his chief lieutenant, senior vice president Brent W. Robinson, who is also taking on a new role that allows him to move to Utah.
"They laid a very solid framework that the new person can work from," said Gary R. Craft, an analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. in Arlington, Va., who follows the on-line banking industry. "In a short period of time they have signed up almost 100 banks."
But some observers said the Bullock and Robinson departures had left a cloud over the unit.
"It was surprising to see them leave," said James R. Wells, managing director of Furash & Co. in Washington, "and it is a surprise to see a relative unknown come into a very big job."
"Fraser's strength was to build the capability to make Visa Interactive a viable entity," Mr. Tallman said. With the company growing faster than expected, and internationally, "Chris brings the ability to expand, which might be difficult."
